JP6729865B2 - Container yard and its control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a container yard capable of grasping the position of cargo handling equipment based on information received from an artificial satellite and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a container yard capable of improving the precision of grasping the position of cargo handling equipment and a control method thereof. ..

Various container yards have been proposed for efficiently carrying out container loading and unloading work by grasping the positions of gate-type cranes and container chassis by utilizing GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and the like (see Patent Document 1, for example). ..

In the container yard described in Patent Document 1, since the GNSS antenna is installed in the gate type crane, the position of the gate type crane can be grasped.

The traveling surface of the container yard where the gate-type crane travels is often configured in an inclined state in which it descends toward the sea side in order to allow rainwater to flow into the sea. Further, since the gate crane, which has a very large weight, repeatedly travels, unevenness may be formed on the traveling surface. In other words, the running surface is rarely a flat horizontal surface.

The gate-type crane may tilt due to the inclination or unevenness of the traveling surface. In this case, an error occurs between the position acquired by the GNSS antenna and the actual position of the gate-type crane. Since the GNSS antenna generally does not have high measurement accuracy in the vertical direction, it has been conventionally difficult to understand the measurement error due to the tilt of the gate crane.

For example, when the size of the gate crane is 30 m in the transverse direction and 30 m in the vertical direction, and when the GNSS antenna is installed at the upper end, when the position of one traveling device is lowered by 0.3 m, the gate crane is about 0. Tilt 57 degrees. In this case, the position of the GNSS antenna horizontally moves about 0.4 m from its original position. When the position of the traveling device is lowered by 0.5 m, the gate crane tilts about 1 degree. In this case, the position of the GNSS antenna is shifted by about 0.8 m in the horizontal direction. That is, the position of the gate crane acquired by the GNSS antenna may include an error of about ±1.0 m.

In a container yard that automates the operation of gate-type cranes, etc., gate-type cranes etc. are automatically driven to arbitrary positions. After that, the crane operator remotely operates to stack containers on top of other containers or to load stacked containers on the container chassis.

In this case, if the position of the gate-type crane is displaced by 1 m, it is impossible to load and unload the container. Therefore, it is necessary for the crane operator to run the gate-type crane by remote control each time and adjust the position. Was difficult to improve.

JP, 2006-225079, A

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a container yard and a control method thereof that can improve the accuracy of grasping the position of a cargo handling device.

A container yard according to the first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a cargo handling device configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface by including a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite. And a host system including a host system that acquires this coordinate information, and that includes a position detection mechanism that acquires the tilt of the cargo handling device to generate position information, and the host system stores the position information. A control mechanism that acquires and corrects the coordinate information based on the attitude information to generate true coordinate information , the cargo handling apparatus includes two or more wireless devices, and the attitude detection mechanism is A storage unit and a calculation unit installed in the host system, wherein the storage unit combines map information in which a vertical displacement amount of the traveling surface and horizontal position coordinates are combined, and the wireless device. It is provided with a configuration for storing device information including an interval between each other, and the arithmetic unit is configured to generate the posture information based on the coordinate information and the map information acquired from the wireless device. ..

A control method for a container yard according to the first aspect of the present invention is, in a cargo handling device configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite is installed, and the coordinate is set. In a container yard control method for grasping the position of the cargo handling equipment based on information, a host system is installed in the container yard , a storage unit and a calculation unit are installed in the host system, and Map information that combines displacement amounts and horizontal position coordinates is stored in advance in the storage unit, the two or more wireless devices are installed in the cargo handling device, and the coordinate information acquired from the wireless devices is stored. Based on the map information, the computing unit generates the posture information indicating the inclination of the cargo handling device, and the upper system acquires the posture information and the coordinate information, and then the upper system based on the posture information. It is characterized in that the coordinate information is corrected to generate true coordinate information.

The container yard according to the second aspect of the present invention is equipped with a radio equipment for generating coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite, and is configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, and to obtain this coordinate information. A container yard provided with a host system, wherein the host system is true coordinate information indicating a position where the cargo handling equipment is grounded on the traveling surface at a large number of locations of the container yard, and the radio device at this time. A storage unit that stores in advance map information that is a combination of virtual coordinate information indicating a position and the virtual coordinate information that matches the coordinate information by referring to the map information based on the coordinate information acquired from the cargo handling equipment. An arithmetic unit for extracting and outputting the true coordinate information corresponding to the virtual coordinate information.

A control method for a container yard according to the second aspect of the present invention is, in a cargo handling device configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite is installed, and the coordinate is set. In a control method of a container yard that grasps the position of the cargo handling equipment based on information, a host system having a storage unit and a computing unit is installed in the container yard, and the cargo handling equipment is provided with the traveling surface at a large number of locations in the container yard. The coordinate obtained by storing in advance the map information in which the true coordinate information indicating the grounded position and the virtual coordinate information indicating the position of the radio at this time are combined in the storage unit, and acquiring from the cargo handling device. Based on the information, the map information is referred to, the virtual coordinate information that matches the coordinate information is extracted, and the true coordinate information corresponding to the virtual coordinate information is output by the computing unit. ..

According to the container terminal and the control method thereof of the present invention, the error of the coordinate information caused by the inclination of the cargo handling equipment can be corrected, which is advantageous for improving the accuracy of grasping the position of the cargo handling equipment.

It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the container yard of this invention by planar view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the portal crane of FIG. 1 in perspective. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the container yard of 1st this invention. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the gate type crane of FIG. 2 in front view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the gate-type crane of FIG. 4 in side view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates map information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the inclination of a gate type crane. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the modification of the container yard of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the container yard of 2nd this invention.

Hereinafter, a container yard and a control method thereof according to the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. In the figure, the traveling direction of the portal crane is indicated by an arrow y, the transverse direction crossing the traveling direction y at a right angle is indicated by an arrow x, and the vertical direction is indicated by an arrow z.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the container yard 1 of the present invention is configured to be able to run along a plurality of storage lanes 3 in which a large number of containers 2 are stored, and along the storage lane 3 while straddling the storage lanes 3. And a plurality of gate type cranes 4 that are provided. The gate-type crane 4 travels on a traveling surface 5 composed of the ground surface.

The container yard 1 includes a plurality of quayside cranes 6 that travel on rails laid along the quayside and a plurality of container chassis 7 that travel within the container yard 1. The gate type crane 4, the quayside crane 6 and the container chassis 7 are collectively referred to as a cargo handling device 8 hereinafter. The cargo handling equipment 8 is not limited to the above, and refers to equipment that handles the container 2 in the container yard 1 and is a concept including, for example, a straddle carrier, a top lifter, and the like.

A management ridge 9 is installed in the container yard 1. The management building 9 is provided with a host system 10 for instructing various cargo handling devices 8 to carry out cargo handling work. In addition, a remote control controller or the like for remotely operating the gate crane 4 may be installed in the management building 9.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the portal crane 4 includes four legs 11 extending in the vertical direction z, and a plurality of horizontal beams 12 that connect upper ends or lower ends of the adjacent legs 11 to each other. .. The upper ends of the legs 11 facing in the transverse direction x are connected with horizontal beams 12 and the lower ends of the legs 11 facing in the running direction y are connected with horizontal beams 12.

Traveling devices 13 are installed on the lower surfaces of the horizontal beams 12 that connect the lower ends of the legs 11, respectively. The traveling device 13 is provided with a plurality of wheels 14, respectively. The wheels 14 are made of rubber tires, for example.

The configuration of the gate crane 4 is not limited to the above. For example, the wheels 14 may be iron wheels traveling on a rail, the rails may be laid along the storage lane 3, and the portal crane 4 may travel on the rails. In this case, the upper surface of the rail becomes the traveling surface 5 of the portal crane 4.

Two radios 15 are installed at the upper end of the gate crane 4. The wireless device 15 is composed of, for example, a GNSS antenna, and has a function of generating coordinate information P1, P1' including longitude, latitude, and altitude based on information such as time received from a plurality of artificial satellites.

Assuming that the shape of the gate crane 4 in a plan view is substantially rectangular, the wireless devices 15 are arranged at diagonal corners. The position where the two wireless devices 15 are installed is not limited to this. It is desirable that the two wireless devices 15 are arranged at positions displaced from each other in the transverse direction x and displaced from each other in the traveling direction y. In addition, a configuration may be adopted in which three or more wireless devices 15 are installed.

The wireless device 15 may be installed in the middle of the leg 11 of the gate-type crane 4 or in the vicinity of the traveling device 13, but it is preferable to install the wireless device 15 at a position as high as possible when receiving information from the artificial satellite. Is improved, which is desirable.

For example, the reference station 16 may be installed on a fixed object such as the management building 9. The reference station 16 is composed of, for example, a GNSS antenna, and compares reference coordinate information P2 that is preset and serves as a reference with the coordinate information of the reference station 16 that is generated based on the information from the artificial satellite, and error information P3 that indicates the error. Has the function of generating.

The position where the reference station 16 is installed is not limited to the management building 9, and may be another place as long as it is a fixed object. It is preferable to install the container in the container yard 1 at a position as high as possible because the environment for receiving information from the artificial satellite is improved.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the host system 10 installed in the management building 9 includes an attitude detection mechanism 17 and a control mechanism 18. The posture detection mechanism 17 includes a storage unit 19 and a calculation unit 20. The storage unit 19 stores device information P4 including a distance Dx in the transverse direction x between the two wireless devices 15, a distance Dy in the traveling direction y, and a height H from the traveling surface 5.

The device information P4 preferably includes the relative position of each traveling device 13 with respect to the positions of the two radios 15 installed in the gate crane 4. That is, if the coordinate information P1 can be acquired from the wireless device 15, the position coordinates of each traveling device 13 can be obtained from the coordinate information P1.

The calculation unit 20 has a function of generating attitude information P5 representing the inclination of the portal crane 4 from coordinate information P1 and P1′ acquired from two or more radio devices 15 and device information P4 acquired from the storage unit 19.

The control mechanism 18 acquires the posture information P5 generated by the calculation unit 20, corrects the coordinate information P1 and P1′ acquired from the wireless device 15 based on this, and generates the true coordinate information P6 and P6′. Have a function. Further, the control mechanism 18 has a configuration that sends a control signal p to the portal crane 4 based on the generated true coordinate information P6 and P6'.

When obtaining the tilt of the portal crane 4 in the transverse direction x as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, first, the two radios 15 generate coordinate information P1 and P1′ based on the information received from the artificial satellite. And sends it to the host system 10. The coordinate information P1 and P1' is composed of a combination of longitude, latitude and altitude, and indicates the position coordinate of each wireless device 15.

The calculation unit 20 of the posture detection mechanism 17 converts the two pieces of coordinate information P1 and P1' acquired by the host system 10 into a coordinate system that includes the traverse direction x and the traveling direction y of the portal crane 4. By coordinate conversion, coordinate information P1(x1, y1) and coordinate information P1'(x1', y1') are obtained. That is, the coordinate information P1 and P1' are converted from the latitude/longitude coordinates into the xy coordinates.

The rotation angle when the latitude/longitude coordinates are rotated and converted into the xy coordinates can be obtained by determining the traveling direction y or the transverse direction x with respect to the latitude/longitude coordinates. For example, the traveling direction y of the portal crane 4 can be determined from the change with time of the coordinate information P1 acquired from the wireless device 15.

A configuration may be adopted in which a compass is installed on the portal crane 4 and the traveling direction y of the portal crane 4 in latitude and longitude coordinates is determined by this compass. With this configuration, the traveling direction y can be determined even when the portal crane 4 is stopped without traveling. The traveling direction y of the portal crane 4 may be determined in advance from the extending direction of the storage lane 3 in the container yard 1.

From the coordinate information P1 and P1′ converted into the xy coordinates, the distance dx between the two wireless devices 15 in the transverse direction x is calculated as illustrated in FIG. Specifically, the interval dx is calculated as the absolute value of x1-x1'. At this time, since the gate type crane 4 is tilted in the transverse direction x, the distance dx becomes smaller than the original distance Dx of the radio device 15.

If the angle of inclination of the portal crane 4 in the transverse direction x is θx, cos θx=dx/Dx can be expressed. The distance dx is obtained as a specific distance from the coordinate information P1 and P1', and the distance Dx can be obtained as a specific value from the device information P4 in the storage unit 19. The calculation unit 20 can calculate θx, which is the angle of inclination of the portal crane 4 in the transverse direction x, from the specific values of Dx and dx.

The coordinate information P1 and P1' include altitude information although the error is large. By comparing the altitudes of the two wireless devices 15, the wireless device 15 located relatively above can be determined. This makes it possible to detect the direction in which the gate crane 4 is tilted.

The calculation unit 20 generates the inclination angle θx and the inclination direction of the portal crane 4 in the transverse direction x as the posture information P5.

When obtaining the inclination of the portal crane 4 in the traveling direction y as illustrated in FIG. 5, the distance dy between the two radios 15 in the traveling direction y is calculated from the coordinate information P1 and P1′ converted into xy coordinates. .. Specifically, the interval dy is calculated as the absolute value of y1-y1'.

If the angle of inclination of the portal crane 4 in the traveling direction y is θy and the interval between the two radios 15 in the traveling direction y is Dy, cos θy=dy/Dy can be expressed. The calculation unit 20 calculates θy, which is the angle of inclination of the portal crane 4 in the traveling direction y, from the specific values of Dy and dy.

Similar to the above, by comparing the altitudes of the two wireless devices 15, the direction in which the gate crane 4 is tilted can be detected.

The calculation unit 20 generates the inclination angle θy and the inclination direction of the portal crane 4 in the traveling direction y as the posture information P5.

The calculation unit 20 sends the posture information P5 including the tilt angles θx and θy of the portal crane 4 and the tilt direction, and the coordinate information P1 and P1′ converted into xy coordinates to the control mechanism 18. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the control mechanism 18 calculates the coordinates X1 and X1′ in the transverse direction x where the wheels 14 of the portal crane 4 are in contact with the traveling surface 5 by the following mathematical expression (1).

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the control mechanism 18 calculates the coordinates Y1 and Y1′ in the traveling direction y where the wheels 14 of the portal crane 4 are in contact with the traveling surface 5 by the following mathematical expression (2).

When the direction of the tilt of the gate crane 4 is opposite to that of FIGS. 4 and 5, the respective coordinates are calculated by the following mathematical expressions (3) and (4) instead of the mathematical expressions (1) and (2). It

True coordinate information P6 (X1, Y1) that is the coordinates of the position where the wheels 14 of the traveling device 13 located below the wireless device 15 are in contact with the traveling surface 5, and is not affected by the inclination of the gate crane 4, true The control mechanism 18 generates coordinate information P6′ (X1′, Y1′) of When automating the traveling of the gate crane 4, the control mechanism 18 transmits a control signal p for instructing the traveling speed or the stop position to the gate crane 4 based on the true coordinate information P6, P6'. be able to. That is, the cargo handling device 8 can be controlled by the control signal p from the upper system 10.

The control signal p can be transmitted from the host system 10 to the portal crane 4 by using a wireless transmission path used when the coordinate information P1 is transmitted from the wireless device 15 to the host system 10. A transmission line for transmitting the control signal p to the portal crane 4 may be provided separately. Alternatively, the coordinate information P1 and the control signal p may be sent using a wired transmission path.

Since the attitude detection mechanism 17 can detect the inclination of the cargo-handling equipment 8 such as the gate crane 4 and eliminate the influence of this inclination, the accuracy of grasping the position of the cargo-handling equipment 8 can be improved. The error in measuring the position of the cargo handling device 8 can be set to about ±0.1 m from the conventional ±1.0 m.

In an automated container yard that automates the travel of the gate-type crane 4 and the container chassis 7, the gate-type crane 4 and the like can be stopped at an accurate position, so that a remote-operated operator does not need to perform alignment. The cargo handling efficiency can be dramatically improved.

When the position of the worker in the container yard 1 is grasped together with the position of the cargo handling device 8, the cargo handling device 8 is operated when the cargo handling device 8 and the worker are abnormally close to each other, for example, within a distance of 0.5 m. It is possible to issue an alarm that calls attention to an operator or a worker who operates. According to the present invention, since the position can be grasped with high accuracy, it is possible to prevent a situation where an alarm is erroneously issued. It is advantageous to improve the safety in the container yard 1.

When the cargo handling equipment 8 approaches an area in the container yard 1 that requires attention to approach due to construction or the like (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the entry caution area), control can be performed to decelerate the cargo handling equipment 8 by the control signal p. Become.

The invention is not limited to automated container yards. Even for the manned portal crane 4, it is possible to avoid an accident in which the portal crane 4 collides with a worker by improving the accuracy of grasping the position. In this case, regardless of the operation of the crane operator who is riding on the portal crane 4, the control mechanism 18 of the host system 10 transmits a control signal p for decelerating or stopping the portal crane 4 to avoid an accident. To do.

When the cargo-handling equipment 8 such as the gate crane 4 is operated by the operator, the control signal p transmitted from the host system 10 to the gate crane 4 or the like requires the information required by the operator and the attention to the operator. Information etc. are included. Based on the information included in the control signal p, the operator can grasp with high accuracy whether or not the gate-type crane 4 is stopped at the correct position with respect to the container 2 to be loaded.

When the cargo handling device 8 approaches the approach caution area, caution information may be transmitted to the operator who operates the approach caution area by calling attention. In this case, the control signal p including information for calling the operator's attention is transmitted from the control mechanism 18 of the host system 10 to the cargo handling device 8. This is advantageous for improving safety during cargo handling work.

The host system 10 can simultaneously acquire the coordinate information P1 and the attitude information P5 from the plurality of portal cranes 4 and other cargo handling equipments 8 and accurately grasp the position of each cargo handling equipment 8. The host system 10 can sequentially generate the true coordinate information P6 and accurately and in real time track the position of the cargo handling device 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the host system 10 may include the determination unit 21. In this embodiment, when the cargo handling device 8 transmits the coordinate information P1 to the host system 10, the information of the identification number for identifying the cargo handling device 8 is simultaneously transmitted to the host system 10. The identification number is given in advance for each cargo handling device 8. The determination unit 21 has a configuration for determining whether to accept the target coordinate information P1 according to the identification number.

According to this configuration, the higher-level system 10 performs the process of calculating the true coordinate information P6 only for a predetermined cargo handling device 8 from the plurality of cargo handling devices 8, and the control signal p based on the true coordinate information P6. Can be transmitted to the target cargo handling device 8. For example, the host system 10 can perform control to accept only the coordinate information P1 from the portal crane 4. Further, it is possible to perform control to receive the coordinate information P1 only from the portal crane 4 that is traveling to store the container 2 that is being held in the storage lane 3 among the portal cranes 4, for example.

According to this configuration, the cargo handling device 8 that needs the true coordinate information P6 can be preferentially controlled, so that the load required for calculating the true coordinate information P6 in the host system 10 can be suppressed. can do.

Since the load on the host system 10 can be suppressed, the true coordinate information P6 can be calculated in a short time interval for each gate-type crane 4. This is advantageous for improving the accuracy in grasping the position of the gate crane 4. Further, by suppressing the load on the host system 10, the time for calculating the true coordinate information P6 can be shortened. Since the delay from the acquisition of the coordinate information P1 by the host system 10 to the calculation of the true coordinate information P6 becomes small, it is advantageous to improve the accuracy in controlling the portal crane 4 and the like.

The determination unit 21 may be configured to acquire the coordinate information P1 and not calculate the true coordinate information P6 for the cargo handling device 8 that is not the target of the calculation of the true coordinate information P6. With this configuration, the load on the host system 10 can be suppressed, and the host system 10 can grasp the position of each cargo handling device 8 in the container yard 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the storage unit 19 may be configured to store map information P7 that is a combination of the horizontal position coordinates of the traveling surface 5 and the displacement amount Zn in the vertical direction z. As the horizontal position coordinates, for example, latitude/longitude coordinates (Lat n, Lng n) can be used.

The map information P7 can be acquired by measuring the traveling surface 5 of the container yard 1 with a three-dimensional scanner or the like. The traveling surface 5 of the container yard 1 may be divided into a predetermined range, and the average value of the inclination for each range may be stored in the storage unit 19 as the map information P7.

The greater the number of pieces of information in the map information P7, the higher the accuracy with which the position of the cargo handling device 8 is grasped. The smaller the number of pieces of information in the map information P7, the more the workload for creating the map information P7 in advance can be reduced.

When the host system 10 obtains the coordinate information P1 and P1' from the portal crane 4 or the like, the coordinate information P1 and P1' are sent to the calculation unit 20 of the posture detection mechanism 17. The calculation unit 20 refers to the map information P7 in the storage unit 19 and compares each of the acquired coordinate information P1 and P1' with the latitude and longitude coordinates of the map information P7. The calculation unit 20 extracts the latitude/longitude coordinates that match the coordinate information P1 in the map information P7, and extracts the latitude/longitude coordinates having the closest values when there is no match.

The calculation unit 20 acquires the displacement amount Zn that is paired with the latitude/longitude coordinates extracted from the map information P7 as the displacement amount Zn corresponding to the coordinate information P1 and P1′, respectively.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the displacement amounts of two points corresponding to the two wireless devices 15 are, for example, Z1 and Z2, the deviation ΔZ in the vertical direction z between the two wireless devices 15 is obtained by the absolute value of Z1−Z2. be able to. An interval D between the wireless devices 15 is stored in the storage unit 19 in advance as device information P4. This distance D represents the linear distance between the two wireless devices 15. If the angle of inclination of the gate crane 4 or the like is θ, it can be expressed by tan θ=ΔZ/D. The calculation unit 20 determines the gap ΔZ between the two radios 15 and the specific value of the distance D included in the device information P4 from the portal crane 4
It is possible to calculate the angle θ of the inclination of and to generate this angle θ as the posture information P5.

The attitude information P5 generated by the attitude detection mechanism 17 is sent to the control mechanism 18 in the same manner as described above and used when generating the true coordinate information P6.

Although the map information P7 must be created and stored in the storage unit 19 in advance, it is advantageous to improve the accuracy of the attitude information P5 of the cargo handling device 8.

The gate-type crane 4 almost always travels along the storage lane 3, and its moving range is relatively limited as compared with the cargo handling equipment 8 such as the container chassis 7. Therefore, the map information P7 corresponding to only the gate crane 4 may be generated only in an area where the gate crane 4 is likely to travel. As a result, the amount of map information P7 and the work time for creating it can be shortened.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the attitude detection mechanism 17 may be installed in the portal crane 4. That is, the posture detection mechanism 17 may be installed in either the cargo handling device 8 or the host system 10.

In this embodiment, the posture detection mechanism 17 is composed of an inclination sensor that measures the inclination of the portal crane 4 in the traverse direction x and the traveling direction y. The configuration of the posture detection mechanism 17 installed in the portal crane 4 is not limited to this, and may be any configuration that can generate the posture information P5 including the tilt of the portal crane 4. For example, as with the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a posture detection mechanism 17 including a storage unit 19 and a calculation unit 20 may be installed.

A reference station 16 is installed in the management building 9. Since the reference station 16 is fixed to a fixed object, it does not move from the predetermined coordinates. Therefore, the position coordinates indicating the position of the reference station 16 are predetermined. The reference station 16 compares the predetermined position coordinates with the position coordinates generated based on the information received from the artificial satellite, and generates the error as error information P3. The position coordinate error occurs due to the effects of the ionosphere and the atmosphere.

The reference station 16 transmits the generated error information P3 to the wireless device 15 of the portal crane 4 wirelessly or by wire. The wireless device 15 generates the coordinate information before correction based on the information received from the artificial satellite, and then corrects the coordinate information before correction based on the error information P3 to generate the corrected coordinate information P1. The wireless device 15 wirelessly or wiredly transmits the corrected coordinate information P1 to the host system 10. At this time, the same route as the transmission path for receiving the error information P3 may be used.

Since it is possible to generate highly accurate coordinate information P1 that excludes the influence of the ionosphere and the like, it is advantageous to accurately grasp the position of the cargo handling device 8 such as the gate crane 4. The correction of the coordinate information P1 using the error information P3 can be performed also in the above-described embodiment. By using the error information P3, the error in measuring the position of the cargo handling device 8 can be reduced to about ±0.01 m. Although the accuracy of grasping the position can be improved by using the error information P3, the configuration using the error information P3 is not an essential requirement of the present invention.

A method of using the error information P3 is called D-GPS (Differential-GPS). As a method using the reference station 16, RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematic-GPS) may be used. By using the RTK-GPS, the position error of the cargo handling device 8 can be further reduced. In either case of using the D-GPS or the RTK-GPS, the reference station 16 may not be installed in the container yard 1 but the reference station already installed in the coastal area may be used.

On the other hand, the posture detection mechanism 17 measures the inclination of the portal crane 4. It is desirable to measure the inclination of the gate crane 4 in each of the transverse direction x and the traveling direction y. The attitude detection mechanism 17 transmits this inclination as attitude information P5 to the host system 10 wirelessly or by wire.

The host system 10 receives the corrected coordinate information P1 and the posture information P5. The control mechanism 18 of the host system 10 further corrects the corrected coordinate information P1 based on the posture information P5 to generate true coordinate information P6. When generating the true coordinate information P6, the above-mentioned mathematical expressions (1) to (4) can be used. This makes it possible to eliminate an error due to the tilt of the gate crane 4.

The control mechanism 18 included in the host system 10 transmits to the portal crane 4 a control signal p for controlling traveling of the portal crane 4 based on the true coordinate information P6.

With the configuration in which the posture detection mechanism 17 is an inclination sensor, the inclination angle θ of the gate crane 4 can be directly obtained. Therefore, in the case of the configuration using the tilt sensor, at least one wireless device 15 may be installed.

Although the portal crane 4 has been mainly described as the cargo handling device 8, the present invention is not limited to this. The radio 15 can be installed in each of the quayside crane, straddle carrier, top lifter, and container chassis. The host system 10 can grasp the positions of a plurality of cargo handling equipments 8 working in the container yard 1 sequentially and concurrently. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize collision avoidance and efficiency of cargo handling work based on the position information of the cargo handling devices 8. In an automated container yard, highly accurate automatic operation can be realized.

In this embodiment, the host system 10 may include the determination unit 21. The upper system 10 can calculate the true coordinate information P6 only for some of the cargo handling devices 8 selected from the plurality. It is advantageous to reduce the load on the host system 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the host system 10 may acquire the true coordinate information P6 without detecting the attitude of the cargo handling equipment 8 by the attitude detection mechanism 17. In this embodiment, the host system 10 does not have the attitude detection mechanism 17, but includes a control mechanism 18, a storage unit 19, and a calculation unit 20. The host system 10 may include the determination unit 21.

In this embodiment, map information P7 that is a combination of true coordinate information P6 indicating the position where the cargo handling device 8 is in contact with the traveling surface 5 and virtual coordinate information P8 indicating the position of the wireless device 15 at this time is stored. It is stored in the section 19 in advance. At least one wireless device 15 may be installed in the cargo handling device 8.

For example, the traveling surface 5 of the container yard 1 is measured by a three-dimensional scanner or the like, and data obtained by combining the displacement amount Zn in the up-down direction z on the traveling surface 5 and the latitude/longitude coordinates (Lat n, Lng n) of the point ( Lat n, Lng n, Zn) is acquired in advance as the true coordinate information P6.

Next, when the cargo-handling equipment 8 such as the gate crane 4 travels on the traveling surface 5, the cargo-handling equipment 8 runs while tilting due to the unevenness of the traveling surface 5. The latitude/longitude coordinates (lat n, lng n) of the wireless device 15 at this time are acquired in advance as virtual coordinate information P8. From the positional relationship between the wireless device 15 and the traveling device 13 in the cargo handling device 8, the latitude/longitude coordinates (lat n, lng n) of the wireless device 15 can be calculated without actually traveling the cargo handling device 8.

True coordinate information P6 (Lat n, Lng n, Zn) indicating the position where the gate-type crane 4 and the like are in contact with the traveling surface 5, and virtual coordinate information P8 (lat n, lng n) indicating the position of the wireless device 15. ) And map information P7 are created in advance and stored in the storage unit 19.

When the host system 10 acquires the coordinate information P1 of the portal crane 4 or the like, the calculation unit 20 refers to the map information P7 and extracts the virtual coordinate information P8 that matches the coordinate information P1. The arithmetic unit 20 extracts the true coordinate information P6 combined with the virtual coordinate information P8 and sends it to the control mechanism 18.

When the virtual coordinate information P8 that matches the coordinate information P1 acquired by the calculation unit 20 does not exist in the map information P7, the virtual coordinate information P8 that minimizes the difference in the latitude and longitude values is extracted as a match. You may

According to this configuration, even if only one radio 15 is installed in the cargo handling device 8, it is possible to obtain the true coordinate information P6 excluding the influence of the tilt of the cargo handling device 8.

By using two or more wireless devices 15, it is possible to eliminate the possibility that the wireless device 15 will generate the coordinate information P1 having the same value even if the cargo handling device 8 is at a different position.

Since the position of the cargo handling equipment 8 can be accurately detected, the container yard 1 of the present invention can obtain various effects.

The position coordinates of the storage lane 3 may be stored in the host system 10 as map information P7. By comparing this map information P7 with the true coordinate information P6 of the portal crane 4, the host system 10 can detect whether or not the portal crane 4 is traveling straight along the storage lane 3. .. When the traveling of the portal crane 4 is automatically controlled, the control signal p necessary for traveling straight can be sent from the control mechanism 18 of the host system 10 to the portal crane 4. That is, the host system 10 can control the travel of the gate crane 4.

The position coordinates of the approach caution area required when the cargo handling device 8 enters such as during construction work may be stored in the host system 10 as map information P7. By comparing the map information P7 with the true coordinate information P6 of the cargo handling equipment 8, the host system 10 can detect whether the cargo handling equipment 8 has entered the entry caution area. When the cargo handling device 8 is entering the approach caution area, the control mechanism 18 can send a control signal p for decelerating the cargo handling device 8.

When the cargo handling devices 8 come closer to each other than the predetermined distance, the host system 10 may detect this from the true coordinate information P6 and send a control signal p from the control mechanism 18 to the cargo handling device 8 to avoid a collision. it can.

From the true coordinate information P6 of the plurality of cargo handling devices 8, the host system 10 can grasp the progress of the cargo handling work at each place. For example, the host system 10 can detect that a plurality of container chassis 7 are concentrated in one storage lane 3 and that the standby time of the container chassis 7 is long. In such a case, the position of the storage lane 3 required for each container chassis 7 can be newly designated from the control mechanism 18 of the host system 10.

The processing of various information such as the coordinate information P1 is not limited to the configuration performed by the host system 10, and may be performed by the cargo handling device 8 such as the portal crane 4. For example, the host system 10 may transmit the attitude information P5 to the portal crane 4, and the portal crane 4 may generate the true coordinate information P6 from the attitude information P5.

In this embodiment, the determination unit 21 can be configured to determine the identification number of the cargo handling device 8 such as the gate crane 4 and determine whether to transmit the posture information P5 according to the identification number. .. The gate crane 4 cannot generate the true coordinate information P6 unless it receives the attitude information P5 from the host system 10. Therefore, it is advantageous to avoid the problem that the load of the sequencer (PLC) that generates the true coordinate information P6 in the gate-type crane 4 increases more than necessary.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the gate type crane 4 may generate the true coordinate information P6 and then transmit the true coordinate information P6 to the host system 10. In this embodiment, only the portal crane 4 having the identification number determined to be acceptable by the determination unit 21 of the host system 10 may start generating the true coordinate information P6.

1 Container Yard 2 Container 3 Storage Lane 4 Gate Crane 5 Traveling Surface 6 Quay Crane 7 Container Chassis 8 Cargo Handling Equipment 9 Management Building 10 Upper System 11 Leg 12 Horizontal Beam 13 Traveling Device 14 Wheel 15 Radio 16 Standard Station 17 Attitude Detection Mechanism 18 Control mechanism 19 Storage unit 20 Calculation unit 21 Judgment unit Dx (transverse direction) interval Dy (traveling direction) interval H Height P1 Coordinate information P2 Reference coordinate information P3 Error information P4 Device information P5 Posture information P6 True coordinate information P7 Map information P8 Virtual coordinate information p Control signal

Claims (10)

A container yard including a cargo handling device that is equipped with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite and is configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, and a host system that acquires this coordinate information. ,
An attitude detection mechanism for acquiring the attitude of the cargo handling equipment and generating attitude information is provided,
The host system includes a control mechanism that acquires the posture information and corrects the coordinate information based on the posture information to generate true coordinate information .
The cargo handling device comprises two or more of the radios,
The posture detection mechanism includes a storage unit and a calculation unit installed in the host system,
The storage unit is configured to store map information in which a displacement amount in the vertical direction of the traveling surface and position coordinates in the horizontal direction are combined, and device information including an interval between the wireless devices,
The container yard , wherein the arithmetic unit is configured to generate the posture information based on the coordinate information and the map information acquired from the wireless device . A container yard including a cargo handling device that is equipped with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite and is configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, and a host system that acquires this coordinate information. ,
A map in which the host system combines true coordinate information indicating a position where the cargo handling equipment is in contact with the traveling surface at a large number of locations in the container yard and virtual coordinate information indicating a position of the radio device at this time. A storage unit for storing information in advance,
An operation of referring to the map information based on the coordinate information acquired from the cargo handling equipment, extracting the virtual coordinate information that matches the coordinate information, and outputting the true coordinate information corresponding to the virtual coordinate information. A container yard characterized by comprising a part. The host system is provided with a configuration for storing caution information that is a combination of horizontal position coordinates of the traveling surface and a preset approach caution area,
The configuration according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising: a configuration that decelerates a traveling speed of the cargo handling equipment when the cargo handling equipment enters the approach caution area based on the true coordinate information of the cargo handling equipment and the caution information. container yard. The container yard according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the host system includes a determination unit that determines whether to acquire the coordinate information of the cargo handling equipment according to an identification number acquired from the cargo handling equipment. A container yard including a cargo handling device that is equipped with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite and is configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, and a host system that acquires this coordinate information. ,
An attitude detection mechanism for acquiring the attitude of the cargo handling equipment and generating attitude information is provided,
The host system acquires the posture information, corrects the coordinate information based on the posture information to generate true coordinate information, a horizontal position coordinate of the traveling surface, and a preset approach. And a structure for storing caution information in combination with a caution area,
A container yard, comprising: a configuration for decelerating a traveling speed of the cargo handling equipment when the cargo handling equipment enters the approach caution area, based on the true coordinate information of the cargo handling equipment and the caution information . A container yard including a cargo handling device that is equipped with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite and is configured to be capable of traveling on a traveling surface, and a host system that acquires this coordinate information. ,
An attitude detection mechanism for acquiring the attitude of the cargo handling equipment and generating attitude information is provided,
The host system acquires the posture information, corrects the coordinate information based on the posture information to generate true coordinate information, and the cargo handling device according to an identification number acquired from the cargo handling device. A container yard, comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not to acquire the coordinate information . A cargo yard configured to be able to travel on a running surface is provided with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite, and a container yard for grasping the position of the cargo yard based on the coordinate information. In the control method,
A host system is installed in the container yard, and a storage unit and a computing unit are installed in the host system to store map information in which a vertical displacement amount of the traveling surface and horizontal position coordinates are combined. Pre-stored in the section, install two or more of the radios in the cargo handling equipment,
Based on the coordinate information and the map information acquired from the wireless device, the computing unit generates posture information indicating the inclination of the cargo handling device ,
And the coordinate information and the orientation information after the host system retrieves, control method of a container yard in which the host system is characterized in that to produce a true coordinate information by correcting the coordinate information based on the posture information .. A cargo yard configured to be able to travel on a running surface is provided with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite, and a container yard for grasping the position of the cargo yard based on the coordinate information. In the control method,
A higher-order system including a storage unit and a calculation unit is installed in the container yard, and true coordinate information indicating a position where the cargo handling equipment is in contact with the traveling surface at a number of locations in the container yard and the above Map information that is combined with virtual coordinate information indicating the position of the wireless device is stored in advance in the storage unit, and the map information is referred to based on the coordinate information acquired from the cargo handling device, and the map information matches the coordinate information. A method of controlling a container yard, wherein the virtual coordinate information is extracted, and the true coordinate information corresponding to the virtual coordinate information is output by the computing unit. The container according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein the host system acquires an identification number from the cargo handling device and determines whether to acquire the coordinate information of the target cargo handling device according to the identification number. How to control the yard. A cargo yard configured to be able to travel on a running surface is provided with a radio that generates coordinate information based on information received from an artificial satellite, and a container yard for grasping the position of the cargo yard based on the coordinate information. In the control method,
Install a host system in the container yard,
The host system obtains an identification number from the cargo handling equipment, determines whether to obtain the coordinate information of the target cargo handling equipment according to the identification number,
After the posture information indicating the tilt of the cargo handling device and the coordinate information are acquired by the host system, the host system corrects the coordinate information based on the posture information to generate true coordinate information. How to control the container yard.

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